Piano-pedal.



G. MBHLIN. PIANO PEDAL.

APPLICATION FILED DEO.10, 1912. 1,079,945 Patented Dec. 2, 1913.

By. 5. 6. 5 WITNESSES b4 6 64 a; INVENTOI? CHARLES MERLIN, OF FOB! LEE,NEW JERSEY.

PIANO-PEDAL.

Application filed. December 10, 1912.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, CHAnLEs MEHLIN, a citizenof the United States, residing in Fort Lee,'in the county of Bergen, inthe State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Piano- 'Pedals, of which the following is aspecification, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, forminga part hereof.

This invention relates to pedals for pianos and has for an object toimprove generally their construction and appearance. ore particularly itis sought to provide a pedal which will not become unsightly by wear.Hitherto piano-pedals have been formed throughout their exposed portionswith relatively broad and flat upper surfaces which quickly become wornand unsightly. In accordance with the present invention the pedal has arelatively broad and flat surface at its forward end but is tapered tothe rear and brought. to an edge between two convex sides, being incross-sectional form, an inverted V-shaped member. The ball of theperformers foot rests upon and wears the extreme forward portion of thepedal but the forward portion of the foot rests upon the edge betweenthe convex surfaces, so that the wear is confined to the edge. By reasonof the high lights on the highly polished convex surfaces, which are notsubject to wear, this edge always appears as a line when viewed from anyangle and the whole pedal accordingly retains its new and attractiveappearance for'a long does not soon become unsightly.

The invention will be more particularly described with reference to theaccompanying drawings in which- Figure 1 is a,view in perspective of agrand piano provided with pedals constructed in accordance with thepresent invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view on an enlarged scale of a pedalembodying the invention. Fig. 3 is a iew thereof in side elevation. Fig.l is a view taken on the plane indicated by the line 4-4 of Fig. 3. Fig.5 is a view taken on the plane indicated by the line 5-5 of Fig. 3. Fig.6 is a view taken on the plane indicated by the line 6-43 of Fig. '2.

While it will be understood that the application of the improved pedalis not limited to pianos of the grand type, it has been found convenientto' illustrate this type of piano in the accompanying drawings.

Specification of Letters Patent.

-transvers'e studs 6.

time and Patented Dec. 2,31 913.

Serial No. 735,9?8.

On the piano a are P ally mounted th P dals 6 usually three in number bysuitable Each of these pedals has at its rearward portion suitablemeans, herein illustrated as an aperture b by means of which the pedalsmay be operatively connected to the respective devices of the piano,aswill be understood by those skilled in the art.

Each of the pedals b may be formed in horizontal section of any desiredoutline, the present invention not being directed to this feature oftheir construction. The exposed portion of the pedal Z) has at itsforward end a relatively fiat and. broad upper surface, generallydesignated by the reference character 2 adapted to have rested thereonthe ball of the performers foot. As is shown particularly in Fig. 2,however, the surface of the pedal tapers upwardly to the rear and isformed with two convex surfaces Z) disposed angularly each to each andmeeting to form an edge which is engaged by the forward portion of theperformers fo'ot. As appears from Figs. 4, 5 and 6, the portion of thepedal last referred, to is V-shaped in cross-sectional form so that thewear thereon is confined to the edge and does not affect the characterof the convex surfaces.

The latter, of course, are preferably highly polished and, being freefrom wear, retain their polished condition and serve to reflect thelight so that the condition of the edge itself is not apparent whenviewed from any angle and the pedal accordingly retains its new andattractive appearance.

The general outline of the edge I) in longitudinal vertical section maybe of any form desirable, although preferably it describes a curve, suchthat the wear caused by the frictional contact of the pcrformers footwill be distributed uniformly over its entire length.

In carrying out the invention it will be understood that it is desirableto have the angle between the convex surfaces 6 as small as possible,but this angle must necessarily be relatively large at the forwardportion of the pedal where the relatively broad and flat upper surfaceI) commences to taper rcarwardly. The general character of the pedal incross sectional form is clearly indicated in Figs. 4. 5 and (i and ithas been found that a pedal having the general proportions theroinillustrated presents an attractive appear-nice when new and embodies allof the advantages resulting from the present invention as moreparticularly pointed out hereinbe'fore. It is to be understood that theexact proportions, however, may be varied without departing from thespirit of the present invention so long as the pedal is constructedgenerally in accordance with the terms of the claims hereto appended Vhat I claim is:

l. A piano pedal having the portion which is exposed to sight and wearformed with convex surfaces on opposite sides of a single upper edge onwhich rests the performersjoot when the pedal is in use.

2. A piano pedal having at its outer end a relatively broad and roundedupper sur- I face, tapered toward its inner end to form a single edge onwhich rests'the performers foot when the pedal is in use. i

8. A piano pedal having at its outer end a relatively broad and'flatupper surface and -torined to the rear thereof with two convex facesdisposed angularly each to each and meeting in a single edge on whichrests the performers foot when the pedal is in use.' I

This specification signed and w'itnessed this 4th day of December A.1)., 1912.

CHARLES MEHLIN.

Gopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Fatents Washington, D. e.

